The October Big Read

rathbone · Post by **rathbone** » 26 Sep 2005, 07:53

Happy Birthday Big Read - we started this topic in October last year and as a result I, for one, have read and enjoyed books that I would never have looked at otherwise. Thanks to everyone who recommended them!

And now, time to choose this month's book ( and new suggestions please)

Buddha Da - Anne Donovan
Anne Marie's Da, a glaswegian painter and decorator, has always been game for a laugh. So when he first takes up meditation at the buddhist centre, no-one takes him seriously, especially when his pursuit of the new lama ends in a trip round the Carmunnock by-pass. But as Jimmy becomes more involved in a search for the spiritual, his beliefs start to come into conflict with the needs of his wife Liz. Cracks appear in their apparently happy family life and the ensuing events change the lives of each family member.

English Passengers - Matthew Kneale
Captain Kewley wants only to smuggle a little tobacco, brandy and french pornography from the Isle of Man to a secluded beach in England. Yet somehow in the process he and his crew end up weighing anchor for Australia. Worse, they are forced to carry three temperamental englishmen bound for Tasmania on a mission to discover the exact location of the Garden of Eden.

Only Say The Word - Niall Williams
Jim Foley loves his parents, his brother, his sister, Dickens and God. Later he loves Kate and later still his children. This is Jim's story from his early days in County Clare to early adulthood in America and then back to Clare again.

Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom
Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching and gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom that person was Morrie Schwartz. This is a chronicle of their time together.

253 - Gavin Myers
Including the driver, there are 253 seats on a London Tube Train. This is the story of the passengers on one full train. 253 people. Each story 253 words long.... but what are the connections between them and who survives?

mr magnolia · Post by **mr magnolia** » 27 Sep 2005, 22:02

Ok, Ok

Rathbone wrote:Druifes u tooi dis traag schone dous ent et?

You're going to keep it on the list until we have to read it anyway, aren't you?

This may have to be a November read for me though, judging by the rate at which I'm managing to get through Cloud Atlas in my alternate night slots from approx 2350 to 0005 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

(I have to report from about page 45 or so that it's getting better than wot it looked to start wiv)

Epykat · Post by **Epykat** » 27 Sep 2005, 22:07

So is it worth me bothering with the first 45 pages or will I start at 46?

mr magnolia · Post by **mr magnolia** » 27 Sep 2005, 22:14

o, no, read them

Just don't let them bother you...

rathbone · Post by **rathbone** » 30 Sep 2005, 09:19

Just a reminder that voting on this poll ends today.
(and it would be useful if we had more suggestions for future reads ... hint hint.)

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 30 Sep 2005, 20:50

rathbone wrote:(and it would be useful if we had more suggestions for future reads ... hint hint.)

The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby

Girl with a pearl earring - Tracy Chevalier

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

Perfume - Patrick Suskind

Silk - Alessandro Baricco

When we were orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro

rathbone · Post by **rathbone** » 02 Oct 2005, 13:29

Thanks for the suggestions Sandra.

The October big read (well, fairly small read actually) will be 253.

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 11 Oct 2005, 20:27

rathbone wrote: The October big read (well, fairly small read actually) will be 253.

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 11 Oct 2005, 20:35

Have tried Waterston's and Border's but neither have a copy in store

Will keep trying Rathbone.

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 11 Oct 2005, 21:00

....and the author is

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 11 Oct 2005, 21:10

Bookstores told me it was Geoff Ryman, though Rathbone has the author as Gavin Myers

Have I been looking for the wrong book?

mr magnolia · Post by **mr magnolia** » 11 Oct 2005, 23:19

Don't know, Marya - but this is where i thought we were being taken?

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 11 Oct 2005, 23:31

You mean it's a cyber novel?

Homer will definitely leave me if I start taking the computer to bed with me.

rathbone · Post by **rathbone** » 12 Oct 2005, 09:46

Marya wrote:Bookstores told me it was Geoff Ryman, though Rathbone has the author as Gavin Myers Have I been looking for the wrong book?

My apologies. Geoff Ryman it is

I had two books on my list, one by Geoff Ryman and one by Gavin Myers and transposed them

I got my copy at Borders (our branch had five copies on the shelves and said that it was being bought by people who had tried to read it in its cyber version and given up!!)

rathbone · Post by **rathbone** » 31 Oct 2005, 16:41

253: A light and fluffy read which kept the youngest rathbonette more entertained than it did me.

I actually found myself reading it on the bus and the train more than wanting to sit down and read it in a serious manner, and only really got excited when William Blake wandered into the 'action' half way through.

A good example of Post Modern literature orginally designed to read on the screen.

I'll stick to watching Bleak House on the box this month.

Talk Porty ~ Portobello

The October Big Read

Time to choose - voting closes on Friday

The October Big Read